A fresh face will be steering the helm of SFU’s Surrey campus starting in November, as Stephen Dooley, the current director of community engagement at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, will be stepping into the shoes of Joanne Curry as Executive Director. The Peak was unable to reach Curry for comment.
Dooley, who is originally from Ontario, has been heavily involved in the Surrey community through his work at Kwantlen, where he has taught in the Department of Sociology and Criminology and done community engagement work for the past 20 years. In his time at Kwantlen, Dooley also developed and acted as the director of the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research and Community Learning and Engagement, or CIR:CLE.
The goal of CIR:CLE is to provide a space for Kwantlen faculty and students to create meaningful and productive partnerships with members of the community and to facilitate community-based research, an approach that Dooley will be using heavily in his new position at SFU. Dooley sees his new role as a chance to continue to establish SFU Surrey as a valuable community partner within Surrey’s city centre.
“With the city of Surrey, there’s a lot of plans for what’s going on in the city centre,” said Dooley, “and I think SFU can be a partner in that process, in terms of contributing to the economy and the diversity of what’s going on in Surrey.”
Dooley plans to accomplish this using the same community engagement tools he built at Kwantlen. “When I think of community engagement . . . for me it’s mostly about process,” said Dooley. “Community engagement is mostly about working as a team with any number of community partners to make sure that SFU Surrey really feels like it’s part of the community, and that we are all working together to address whatever the needs are.”
Dooley sees his new role as a chance to continue to establish SFU Surrey as a valuable community partner
Dooley will be filling the position of current SFU Surrey Executive Director Joanne Curry, who has overseen the campus’ rapid expansion over the past decade. Curry has taken the position at SFU as Associate Vice-President of External Relations, and will continue to be involved with the growth of Surrey’s campus.
Dooley is the first to admit that Curry does not leave small shoes to fill. “I’m not even going to try,” Dooley said with a laugh. “I recognize a lot of the great work that’s already been done. Part of it for me is getting a chance to work with Joanne . . . to further the work that’s already been done.”
Dooley also envisions the SFU Surrey campus itself acting as a community gathering place, where members can come and have conversations about the things going on in the area.
When asked why he chose to move on from Kwantlen after 20 years, Dooley pointed to the “vibe” of SFU Surrey. “I really like that SFU is trying to be a leading community engaged university,” said Dooley. “[Both] Kwantlen and SFU Surrey are trying to support the needs of learners south of the Fraser River. We’re both in the area. I just think it’s a really neat thing that’s going on at SFU Surrey, and I like the potential for contribution to what’s going on in the city centre of Surrey.”
“That whole area is becoming very vibrant. It just feels like a really cool place to be.”
